rights to woo southern support." "the des moines register" endorsed nixon after, after the watergate burglary which occurred on june 17th of that election year. in june of the election year, the democratic party headquarters in washington was broken into in the middle of the night and instantly the entire world suspected richard nixon. in september of the election year, seven co-conspirators were indicted in the burglary including two men with strong ties to republican world. watergate got one line. one line in "the des moines register's" presidential endorsement in 1972. "we are disturbed by the watergate scandal and the evidence linking it with the white house." they were disturbed but not disturbed enough not to endorse richard milhous nixon. there wasn't a kid in my high school who didn't know that tricky dick was a crook, but "the des moines register" editorial board didn't know that. >> i'm not a crook. >> 19 days before "the des moines register" endorsed that crook, bob woodward and carl bernstein reported on